Kevin Love screwed out of All-Star selection by coaches

​The dead of winter got a little colder in these parts: Timberwolves forward Kevin Love was passed over by Western Conference coaches as an All-Star reserve.

There is still a chance Love could play in the contest, if he were named as an injury replacement for Houston's Yao Ming. NBA Commissioner David Stern makes that choice.

UPDATE: Sweet redemption and affection for Love as he learned Friday eve that he was indeed Stern's choice to replace Yao in the All-Star Game.

"I was totally shocked, I had absolutely no idea," Love said before the Wolves' 111-100 loss at Toronto.. "I'm truly humbled. I'm truly blessed. It's a goal of mine my whole life, and I've reached it. I was very happy."

The first-time All-Star extended his double-double streak to 35 straight games, with 20 poins and 15 rebounds in the defeat.

The exhibition will be held Sunday, February 20th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Starters, as voted in by the fans, were announced last week.

Pacing to become the first player since Moses Malone in 1982-83 to average at least 20 points and 15 rebounds over the course of a season, Love was hoping to become just the fifth Wolf to receive the honor. The past four include: Tom Gugliotta (1997), Wally Szczerbiak (2002), Sam Cassell (2004), and 10-time All-Star Kevin Garnett, who has also played in the game thrice as a member of the Boston Celtics.

The Wolves' woeful 11-37 record (second-worst in the NBA) surely derailed Love's shot at selection via the coaches. The slight comes amidst a steady slew of numbers and, well, "NUMB#RS." The former is a nod to his league-leading totals in both rebounds (15.5 per game) and double-doubles (43), while the latter serves in reference to the organization's smart and savvy faux cologne spoof furthering the forward's already-rising visibility. Love is also shooting 44 percent from 3-point land.

The lowly .229 win percentage owned by Love's club nearly threatened to make him the All-Star holding history's worst team win clip. That inauspicious mark is held by former Cleveland Cavalier center Zydrunas Ilgauskaus, who was chosen in 2003 despite the Cavs' 9-38 (.191) record at the time.

The race for forward reserves was a truly heated one, with Love, Tim Duncan, LaMarcus Aldridge, Pao Gasol, Blake Griffin, Dirk Nowitzki, and Zach Randolph essentially vying for three-to-four open spots. Forwards named to the Western squad as reserves instead of Love were: Duncan, Gasol, Nowitzki, and Griffin.

The honor would have proven triply sweet for Love. Along with the opportunity to play defenseless hoop alongside the game's elite, he would also have had the chance to do so in the same town where he was born and where he played his lone season of college ball at UCLA. In addition, his selection would have usurped the disrespect of his being left off the former roster of the Rookies vs. Sophomores game for the All-Star weekend of 2009, although he did appear in the contest as a second-year player last season.

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Um, he's in now. Love is someone the league knows they need to market better. His numbers prove he should be there, and the short guy who runs the league isn't stupid; finally adding him after the Chinese giant had to bow out.

The guy deserved it - no matter how lousy the Timberwolves are. And although being on this team makes him look even better, there is no denying the fact that he's unbelieveable. Just another screw-up in a screwed-up sport.

As much as I beat up on the Wolves, this was bad and wrong. This game has several functions, one to honor the best players, and second to help marketing the NBA (regardless of each team's records). The crapped on Minnesota on this one.

It's not an accident that the NBA is headquartered in the same city as the stock exchange that rapes our IRAs, plunders pensions and pisses on working men and women.

Blake Griffin will be in the rookie-sophomore game. There was no reason to let him play in both games other than L.A. is a bigger market than the Twin Cities. The NBA is probably our most corrupt sports league as their referees prove each and every night.

I think the selections of Duncan, Dirk and Pao were givens. So yeah: I gather the last slot came down to Love and Griffin. And while their does vibe some big-market snubbery here, I suppose it's worthy of mention, at least for the sake of debate, that while Love has his league rebound/double-double lead, Griffin owns more points, better FG%, more blocks, steals and assists per, along with 8 more wins than our guy.

Yet, given that the Clippers are still 10 games under .500 -- I'm with you. Love was screwed here. Perhaps the Commish will offer redemption, although it will now be tough for Love to make it over Tony Parker, Steve Nash, or Monte Ellis as the injury replacement for Yao.